The Kid Brigade Cracks the Case
by ShinyShiny9
Summary: Just when they thought Mobius would get peaceful! Tails, Cream, Charmy, and Marine have promised to stay out of trouble, though that doesn't mean that trouble won't find them. But when these former mischief-makers vow to help some friends in need, things are bound to end well! . . . Right?
1. Of Krakens and Chaotix

**A/N: Yes, the Kid Brigade is back! With a vengeance. This is technically a sequel to my first story, "The Kid Brigade," but it stands entirely on its own. And since Cream got the spotlight last time, guess who gets to be the center of attention this time! (Hint: peace-loving Mobians had better batten down the hatches.)**

**Are all the hatches battened? Good, then let's begin! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic and Co.!**

* * *

Far out in the uncharted wilderness of Mobius's oceans, a storm like no other was howling. The wind screamed and rampaged, stroking huge whitecaps off the sea's tumultuous surface. Among these merciless waves, a comparatively tiny little ship was being tumbled violently about. The hull creaked and groaned under the weather's furious assault; the sails hung in useless tatters as St. Elmo's Fire glowed eerily on every mast; enormous breakers tore over the ship's prow and washed all over the deck. How the craft stayed afloat at all was a true mystery.

At the helm of this ship stood the calm and courageous captain, her teeth set grimly, her fist clenched in defiance of the elements. She heaved mightily at the wheel, masterfully keeping the pitching vessel upright.

Meanwhile, the first mate staggered up from the main deck, clinging to the railing so he wouldn't be swept overboard. Three times he disappeared under a foaming wave, before he finally managed to grapple his way up the ladder and stand by the wheel.

"Captain!" he bellowed above the scream of the storm. "We're going down! There's no hope!"

"There's always hope, mate!" the captain bellowed back. "Stand by the awnings on the mizzenmast!"

"There no longer _are_ any awnings on the mizzenmast! They were taken by the horrible—" The first mate's sentence was cut short by another deluge of seawater. He coughed and wiped his face irately.

"All right Charmy, that's _enough!_"

Charmy looked up from drawing another bucket of water.

"But you said you wanted it to be realistic! And it can't be realistic unless there's huge waves washing over the deck all the time. This pond isn't even going to give us a _ripple_ all on its own, you know!"

"True, but enough's enough, mate," grumbled Marine. "We can't even finish a decent line without you sloshing that bilge about. Besides, it's not realistic if _we're_ wet and _you_ aren't."

"No way!" yelped Charmy, holding the bucket above his head as Marine lunged for it. "Stoppit!"

"Gimme that, matey! Cap'n's orders!" howled Marine in return. In the course of the squabble, both Marine and Charmy succeeded in tumbling off the little makeshift pirate ship that the Kid Brigade had built.

"Mobians overboard!" wailed Cream, as she and Tails rushed to the edge of the deck. Marine and Charmy, meanwhile, surfaced easily in the knee-deep water.

"I'll have you keel-hauled!" roared Marine, shaking her fist at a dripping Charmy. "That's no way to treat your captain!"

"You're not my captain! I have no captain! I am—" Charmy hauled up a bunch of pondweeds and draped them over his head— "the great and mighty KRAKEN!"

The valiant captain had no fear of krakens, mighty or otherwise. Neither did her equally valiant crew.

"Slay the kraken!" howled Tails, as he and Cream threw themselves down after Marine and Charmy. The subsequent flurry of splashing and squealing and laughing and good-natured pummeling put the earlier storm to shame.

At last the four youngsters sloshed out of the pond and flopped down on the bank, still giggling and out of breath.

"Gosh," panted Charmy. "It's really awesome hanging out with you guys."

"It is fun," agreed Cream, as Cheese wrung water out of his little bow tie.

"Especially since things are so bad back at the office these days," Charmy added, sighing. "It's great to get out of there whenever I can."

"Bad?" asked Marine, looking up anxiously. "What d'ya mean, mate?"

Charmy picked at a blade of grass awkwardly.

"Welllll, it's nothing really _that_ bad. It's just that we haven't had a case in _three months_. Vector and Espio are really worried about it. Every day we just wait and wait for a mystery to come up, and there never are _any!_ Not one! It's making them kinda jumpy. They're grumpy all the time," finished Charmy sadly.

"That's terrible," said Cream, her eyes full of sympathy. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know," said Charmy. "We've tried advertising, even in the nearest cities. We put up posters everywhere, but we never got even a single phone call. We've told all our friends to tell all _their_ friends, and them to tell all _their_ friends, and Vector says they must know about us in Spagonia by now, but we _still_ don't get any calls! I guess there just aren't any mysteries in the world these days. That's what Espio says." The little bee folded his arms, shut his eyes, and tilted his head in imitation of the ninja chameleon. "'The age of the detective is over, boss'," he mimicked in a deep voice. "'The electronic era has destroyed the need for the classical art of detection'."

The others couldn't help but chuckle.

"You sound just like Espio," smiled Tails.

"You should hear me do Vector!" replied Charmy. "I can imitate anyone! Even Shadow."

"Don't you dare!" warned Tails, jumping up. Ever since the Kid Brigade's near-disbanding after a fiasco involving a leek, the youngsters had been keeping a carefully numbered list of things they learned in their adventures. They kept this "List of Lessons" partly for appearances, to prove to the older Mobians that they had turned over a new leaf and were now focused on good deeds and personal improvement. However, they also kept it because they really did want to learn from their mistakes, to avoid repeating the horrendous pickles they got themselves into sometimes.

Either way, the very first entry in the List of Lessons, written very bold, was, "Never, ever play tricks on Shadow."

"Okay, so I won't imitate Shadow," shrugged Charmy. "That makes my throat hurt anyway. Want to hear me imitate Vector?"

"First try Sonic," grinned Tails.

"And after Vector, how about me?" asked Marine.

Charmy obliged willingly. Soon the youngsters forgot about the troubles back at the Team Chaotix agency, as they got caught up in trying to impersonate all their friends.

* * *

The next time the Kid Brigade met, in their "clubhouse" in Cream's basement, they could immediately see something was wrong. Charmy's head was hung low, and his feet scuffed the ground sadly as he clumped down the stairs.

"What's wrong, Charmy?" asked Tails.

"Nothin'. I'm fine," said Charmy, plunking down on the floor next to Cream. Cheese flew over to him anxiously.

"Is it about Team Chaotix? Did you have a fight?" asked Cream worriedly.

Charmy gulped and shook his head.

"Charmy?"

"We're gonna disband!" wailed Charmy. "No more Chaotix Detective Agency!"

"_What?!_" yelped the others, as Charmy struggled not to burst into tears.

"You know we haven't had a case in forever and ever," groaned the little bee. "Vector thinks we'll never ever get one _ever_ again. He says it doesn't pay well enough to be a detective, and we're all just wasting our time. He says we have to go find new jobs now, and if I can't find one, I'm just gonna have to go back home and be a normal kid. I don't _wanna_ be a normal kid! I wanna be a detective!"

Tails, Cream, and Marine exchanged shocked glances. They knew how much being a detective meant to Charmy. It had been his dream ever since he was old enough to talk. And Vector and Espio loved the detective business too, even slow and difficult as it sometimes was. And now they were just giving it all up?

"You can't just disband!" sputtered Marine, as Cream wrapped her arms comfortingly around a sniffling Charmy. "That's all rot! You're bound to get a case soon! You've just gotta hang on!"

"She's right!" agreed Tails vehemently. "It's like with earthquakes or volcanoes. The longer it's been since the last one, the sooner the next one will come, and the bigger it's going to be!"

"Now there's gonna be a volcano?" wailed Charmy. "The agency isn't volcano-proofed!"

"No no, not a _real_ volcano," said Tails hastily. "I was just making a comparison! What I mean is, since it's been so long since your last case, you're bound to get another one really soon, and it's bound to be a doozy!"

"Chao!" agreed Cheese, waving his little arms.

"Vector doesn't believe that," said Charmy sadly. "He's just given up. Espio too. They say they'll wait one more week, and if they don't get a case by then, no more Team Chaotix."

"One more week?! Why didn't you say so, mate?" whooped Marine. "We can save the agency!"

"Wh-what?"

"All we have to do is find a mystery for you to solve!" agreed Cream, catching on. "Even just a little one! If Mr. Vector and Mr. Espio see they still have some work to do, they'll change their minds about quitting the detective business!"

"I don't know, you guys," sighed Charmy. "You remember what happened the last few times we tried to do good deeds."

He had a point. After that first rule in the List of Lessons, there were other tidbits of wisdom such as "turpentine old paint BEFORE putting on new paint," and "don't let Tails try to bake cupcakes."

"We can't just give up on good deeds, though!" argued Tails. "We'll just have to hunt up a mystery that nobody thought of asking Team Chaotix about!"

"You think it'll work?"

"Charmy, Charmy, Charmy mate," scolded Marine. "You're supposed t'be the optimistic one!"

Charmy looked doubtful for just the briefest of moments. Then he smiled slowly.

"And you guys would really help me with that?" he asked hopefully.

"Are you kidding? Mobius just wouldn't be the same without Team Chaotix! Of course we'll help."

"You're the best!" grinned Charmy, bouncing to his feet and clenching his little fist. "And you're right. We can do this! We can save Team Chaotix!"

The others whooped in agreement and raised their fists high.

"Charge of the Kid Brigade!" they hollered, and thundered up the basement stairs.

"Chao, chao-chao!" protested Cheese, and whizzed off after them.


	2. Wrenches, Chaos, and Buckets

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic and Co.!**

* * *

The Kid Brigade's efforts began. First they went around and asked all their friends if they had any unsolved mysteries. Nothing.

"Not even a disappearance?" pleaded Charmy as their options began to run out. "Not even something you've lost?"

But nobody needed any kind of help that was even remotely detective-like.

"Well then, guess we'll just have to _make_ a mystery!" said Tails grimly.

"We can't do anything bad!" protested Cream. "What if they solve the mystery and find it's _us?_ Nobody will ever trust us again!"

"Of course we won't do anything bad," said Tails hastily. "We'll create little, non-crime type of mysteries. We won't do a single thing wrong, I promise!"

Cream folded her arms.

"But we don't try anything till we _all_ agree on it, right?" she said, her voice surprisingly firm. Ever since she had been nominated club president, she had learned how to put her foot down to keep them out of trouble.

"Sure," said Tails, relieved that there weren't any deeper objections. "Group-approved schemes only."

"Okay," nodded Cream. "What if we . . . "

A little while later, Tails came skidding into the Chaotix Detective Agency.

"Hey guys!" he called, and winced as a startled Vector fell backwards in his chair. "Uhhh, are you okay, Vector?"

"I'm fine, kid," grumbled Vector, rubbing the back of his head. "What can we do ya for?"

"I was hoping you could help me out," said Tails, as Charmy gave him a grin and a wink. "I've somehow lost my spanner wrench. I really need it to work on the X-Tornado, and it's just gone! I've looked everywhere, and I can't find it. Do you think you could help me out?"

"Hmmm. That's a pretty small case," said Vector seriously. "We're very busy, ya know."

Tails hid a smile. Vector always doggedly maintained an image of extreme busyness, trying to make his detective team look good. It fooled no one, not even Knuckles.

"I know you're busy, but couldn't you please squeeze me in somewhere? I need that wrench!"

"Come on, Vector!" cried Charmy. "We're good detectives. I bet we could find that wrench in no time! It'd only take a little while."

"True, true," murmured Vector. He seemed to be weighing the benefit of finally having a case against the damage to his pride that the case's triviality would cause. "Well, I guess, if it's that short of a job, we could squeeze in some time for ya. We'll come over in—"

He was interrupted by a distant call of, "Yo, Tails!"

Sonic came skidding into the scene.

"Hey, Tails, there you are! I just found that wrench you said you were looking for! It was behind your toolbench. Must have fallen there!"

Tails half-heartedly took the wrench that Sonic held out to him.

"Gee . . . thanks," he sighed, as Team Chaotix's faces fell.

The next morning, the Kid Brigade swung into action early. Charmy didn't come, because he had to be at the agency. Also, they didn't want him to know the hiding place and accidentally make the search too easy. The other Brigadiers got to work. Cream sat and nervously made a chain of daisies, while Tails and Marine grabbed Cheese and made a dash for it. They took the little chao to a secluded hollow in the woods.

"Oh, this is a smashin'ly ripper plan!" giggled Marine.

"Don't worry, Cheese," assured Tails. "You'll only have to stay here a little while. Team Chaotix is going to come and find you! Stay right here, don't move, and pretend to yell for help every now and then, okay?"

"Chao, chao-chao, CHAO!" sputtered Cheese, who did not admire their "smashin'ly ripper plan" at all.

"I promise Team Chaotix will find you!" sighed Tails. "And if they don't, we'll come to get you. Just relax and stay here, okay Cheese?"

"Chaooooo," grumbled the little blue creature, leaning against a tree root and folding his tiny arms.

"He does a good Shadow impression himself," whispered Tails. Marine giggled again.

As planned, Cream ran into the Chaotix Agency a half-hour later.

"Please, Mr. Vector, Mr. Espio, Charmy! Could you please help me?" she pleaded. "Cheese is gone!"

"Gone?!" gasped Vector. "Do you suspect foul play?"

"Oh, no, I don't think so! I think he just got lost."

"Lost?" asked Vector, tilting his scaly head dubiously. "Just wandered off? I thought that Cheese always stayed close to you no matter what."

"And don't chaos have a special bond that allows them to always find their friends?" added Espio.

"Well . . . uh . . . ummm . . . " Cream wasn't much of an actor when under pressure.

"Cream, I don't think Cheese is really lost," said Vector seriously.

"But . . . but . . . "

"Nope, not lost at all. He must have been CHAONAPPED!"

Cream tried not to visibly go limp with relief.

"Do you really think someone might have taken him?" she gasped. "What do I do?"

"Don't worry, little lady!" boomed Vector, standing up to his full height. "We'll get on this case right away and save that chaonapped chao!"

With Cream in tow, Team Chaotix charged vigorously to the door. When they threw it open, they were stopped in their tracks by the sight of a small blue creature.

"Chao, chao, chao-CHAO!"

There was silence for a second. Then Cream remembered her part.

"Oh, Cheese!" she squealed. "You're all right!"

As she threw her arms around the disgruntled chao, she snuck a despairing glance at Charmy. He looked to be in utter dismay. So did his teammates.

"Welp. Guess it musta just gotten lost," sighed Vector, and headed glumly back to his desk.

A new rule was written in the List of Lessons that night: "Never try to tell a chao to stay."

The Kid Brigade was not to be so easily dissuaded, however. The next day, Marine stormed into the Chaotix Agency.

"Mates, can y'give me a hand?" she asked, standing on her toes to peer over the desk. "I've been robbed!"

"Robbery, eh?" said Vector. "Tell us what happened."

Marine explained the incident. She and her fellow-Brigadiers were trying to fix a hole in the side of their little pirate ship. They had saved up scraps of wood for ages, and pooled their small resources to buy a bucket of pitch to seal the boat's seams.

"It was going to be the most amazin' boat," sighed Marine wistfully. "The pitch'd make it waterproof and everythin'. We even had a little pirate flag . . . "

"Just the facts, ma'am," said Vector professionally.

"Right, right. Well, this mornin' Tails and I came to work on the boat, and the pitch was just gone! Bucket an' all!"

"Somebody stole a bucket of pitch?" Espio tried not to sound too disbelieving.

"Well, it's gone all right!" scowled Marine. "And we need that!"

Vector made a show of checking his schedule.

"All right, we'll come have a look!" he announced at last. "Lead us to the scene of the crime."

Marine led Team Chaotix to the pond, doing her very best not to look gleeful. She showed them the damaged boat and the exact place where she had left the bucket of pitch. Team Chaotix circled about carefully, eyeing the area, while Tails and Cream came over to watch. The Kid Brigadiers exchanged delighted glances when Vector and Espio weren't looking. It was working! It was a real case for Team Chaotix! Charmy buzzed about excitedly. He knew where the pitch was—he was the one who had hidden it—but he had sworn he wouldn't give it away. He refused to even glance in the direction of the bucket's hiding place.

"Boss," called Espio. "There's a trail of cake crumbs."

"Right you are!" whooped Vector, loping over. "Cake crumbs! These might be a crucial clue, Esp!" He turned to the Kid Brigade. "Have any of you eaten cake recently?"

There was a chorus of no's and some firm shaking of heads.

"Aha! Then the cake crumbs were definitely left by the retreating criminal," grinned Vector. "Let's follow the path!"

He slunk along the trail of little crumbs, eyeing them as if he suspected the cake of being party to the crime. Espio followed just behind.

"Look! Drops of pitch! The thief definitely came this way!" crowed Vector.

"And look here. He or she stumbled into a hollow and spilled a little of the pitch," remarked Espio. "They must be somewhat clumsy."

"And there's a footprint!" said Vector. Espio crouched down to examine it.

"It's only part of the footprint, so I can't tell the size of the shoe. But judging by the pattern on the underside, it must have been a sneaker," he announced. "Also, judging by the disturbance in the underbrush, this person was not sneaking. He was walking, and rather brashly too."

The Kid Brigade's looks were becoming less jubilant and more anxious. Team Chaotix wasn't supposed to guess the identity of the thief! They were just supposed to find the pitch bucket!

It was too late to do anything now, though. Vector was already rubbing his chin in thought.

"Let's see . . . who could it be? They like cake, are clumsy sometimes, wear sneakers, but don't like to sneak . . ." Vector's eyes grew wide. "ME!"

Unimpressed looks all around. Espio sighed and tapped Vector on the arm.

"Boss, I don't think you took the pitch."

"Of course I didn't," snorted Vector. "But somebody tried to _make_ it look like I did! I'm being FRAMED!"

A collective sigh of relief was breathed by the Brigadiers. Vector was on the wrong track, and would probably stay that way for a while. That is, provided Charmy didn't start to laugh.

"Let's just find the pitch," said Espio, shaking his head resignedly. "Charmy, why don't you come help?"

"Coming!" sang Charmy, buzzing over. "How far does the trail go, you guys?"

"We won't know unless we follow it," said Vector grimly.

They proceeded down the trail, with the Kid Brigade tagging along behind. Charmy was trying hard to contain his excitement. He couldn't wait for the moment when Team Chaotix would triumphantly find the missing article, declare the case closed, and resolve never to give up the detective business ever again!

"The trail ends here," announced Espio. "Hopefully the thief hid the stolen bucket nearby, or we'll have a very hard time finding it."

"Well, there's nowhere he could have gone," said Vector. "Except across the stream. He must have waded across here!"

Charmy gulped.

"Guys, wait!" he called, as Vector approached the stream. "What about that little crack in the ground over there?"

"That gully?" snorted Vector. "Nobody could fit in there, it's too narrow. Why would they just toss the bucket of pitch down there where they couldn't get it?"

"Well, uh . . . maybe they just wanted to get rid of it!" said Charmy hopefully. "Maybe somebody mean just wanted to ruin our boat by getting rid of the pitch!"

"Then why did they take the bucket?" asked Espio. "Why didn't they just kick it over right where it stood?"

"Well . . . uh . . . ummm . . . " Charmy fumbled desperately. Vector and Espio turned to look at him.

"Charmy," said Espio quietly. "You're small enough to fit down there. Why don't you just go and get the bucket?"

Charmy's eyes grew very wide. For once, he had nothing to say.

"How did you find out it was me?" he asked at last.

"We knew it was you guys all along!" declared Vector.

"_I_ knew it all along," muttered Espio under his breath. Out loud he added, "We decided to play along to make you kids feel better. We know you're been trying very hard to come up with a mystery for us."

"You . . . you knew it was our plan all those other times too?" gulped Tails.

"Yes. Don't worry, we're not angry. It was very nice of you to try and help," said Espio kindly. "But you can't force the matter. The mystery business is simply going down the proverbial tubes."

"Don't say that!" protested Marine. "You'll find a mystery soon, mates, I know it!"

"Thanks, kid. But it's been too long since our last case," said Vector glumly. "Giving up is the only option left by now."

"But _guys!_" wailed Charmy. No use. Vector and Espio nodded goodbye and turned to head back to the agency.

* * *

Twenty minutes after Vector and Espio left, the Kid Brigade was still trying to comfort a despairing Charmy.

"It's no use, you guys," the little bee murmured. "Th-thanks for trying . . . "

"Charmy, we can't just give up!" protested Tails. "We still have three or four days left before the week's over!"

"Who's giving up?" sniffled Charmy. "I'm not giving up. I'd do _anything_ to keep the Chaotix Agency going! But there's just no way to change Vector and Espio's minds. And now we can't make up any more mysteries for them either, because they know it's just us!"

"I could help out," said a voice from just above their heads. The kids jumped and looked all around. Suddenly Rouge dropped smoothly from the tree they had been sitting under.

"Couldn't help overhearing," she said sweetly. "I'd be happy to lend a hand, you know. Even if Team Chaotix knows that you kids are trying to come up with mysteries, they wouldn't expect you to get outside help, would they now?"

"What do you mean?" asked Tails nervously.

"Just what I said," replied Rouge, winking at Charmy. "I'd be more than happy to create a little mystery for you Chaotix boys to solve."

"Uh . . . I dunno . . . " gulped Tails, exchanging glances with the others.

"Ms. Rouge, could we please talk about this for a minute?" asked Cream politely.

"Go right ahead," said Rouge, with a gracious tilt of her hand. The Kid Brigade nodded and scurried off to a safe distance—or so they thought. Chuckling, Rouge leaned back against the tree, looked the other way in feigned disinterest, and tuned in her very sensitive ears.

"You know she's going to want to steal something!" Tails was saying. "We can't _ask_ her to do that!"

"Why not? The whole point is for us to catch her and get it back," said Charmy.

"Look, you know how Rouge is. She'd never do us a favor without asking for payment! Either she's going to want to keep what she steals, or she'll want us to pay some other way. And we don't have anything to give her!"

"But we can't just let this chance go by," argued Charmy. "Like I said, I'd do _anything_ to save the agency!"

"Even allow a robbery, mate?" asked Marine dubiously.

"But . . . but . . . "

"I have an idea," said Cream suddenly. "What if we had Ms. Rouge steal from someone who _knew_ he'd be stolen from? We could set the whole thing up! If someone agreed to have his stuff stolen, it wouldn't really be a robbery at all!"

"I guess you have a point," admitted Tails. "All right. Let's ask her about that."

They returned to an innocent-looking Rouge.

"Finished talking already, kiddos?" she asked brightly.

"Well, kind of," said Tails. "We were thinking, maybe it would be a good idea for it to be a _staged_ robbery. Would you be willing to do that?"

"Sure," grinned Rouge. "I know just the person to ask."


	3. The Best-laid Plans of Mice and Men

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic and Co.!**

* * *

Rouge and the Kid Brigade headed up onto Angel Island. Knuckles spotted them coming up the stairs of the Master Emerald shrine, and leaped to his feet.

"Not one step closer!" he warned, spreading his arms to bar access to the Master Emerald. He scowled in particular at Rouge. "Now you've convinced these poor little kids to help you with your thieving? Low, batgirl, low. Shame!"

Rouge scoffed.

"They're not helping me. I'm helping them!"

Knuckles narrowed his eyes in a combination of puzzlement and suspicion.

"What are you up to this time?" he asked of the kids. "I don't feel like another all-day tin-plate symphony, thanks."

The Brigadiers grinned sheepishly and scuffed their feet. Apparently Knuckles had not yet forgotten that incident.

"We really hate to ask," ventured Charmy bravely. "But could you help us save Team Chaotix?"

"Oh?" Knuckles' face suddenly showed a trace of interest. He wasn't really a Chaotix member now, but years ago he'd been instrumental to the founding of the team. As such, he still took an interest in its well-being.

"I heard you guys haven't had a case in a while," he admitted, relaxing slightly. "But what can I do to help?"

"Easy," smiled Rouge. "You and I are going to stage a fake robbery."

Knuckles processed for a second. Then he registered the implication, which rocked him right back onto his heels and set his arms flailing furiously.

"NO! NonononoNO! No way! No _how!_ Forget it!"

"Take it _easy!_" protested Rouge, as the kids edged back slightly.

"NO! No! No, no, n—"

"Okay, okay, I get it. You don't like the idea," said Rouge evenly. "But just calm down and hear me out first!"

"Never! Forget it! Get lost!"

"Cut it out! It's not the Master Emerald I want!"

"There is no way on Mobius or any other—wait, what?" Knuckles stopped and tilted his head suspiciously.

"I wouldn't want to _stage_ a Master Emerald robbery!" snorted Rouge. "Believe me, if I ever get my hands on that pretty rock, I'm going to keep it for _real_."

Tails elbowed Charmy and mouthed, "I told you so."

"Well then, what _do_ you want to steal?" growled Knuckles, folding his arms.

"Don't you have a whole bunch of ancient echidna relics stashed away on this island?" asked Rouge. "I could pretend that one of them had an ancient treasure map on it. Then I could take it and let the Chaotix boys catch me. Then, after everything has simmered down, I'll give it back to you!"

Knuckles eyed the sky, considering. Then he shook his head.

"Still no way."

"Oh, come on! You can spare a dusty old Pachacamac relic for a few weeks! It won't make your silly island fall or anything."

"Pleeeease, Knuckles?" begged Charmy.

"Still no!" Knuckles scowled. "You won't fool me again, batgirl. I know what you're gonna do! You're gonna pretend to come for the ancient relic, and instead you'll swipe the Master Emerald!"

"No I won't."

"Seriously? Then why are you being so helpful all of a sudden, huh? I know you must expect something out of all this."

"Oh, I do," said Rouge sweetly. "But it has nothing to do with the Master Emerald, or even your old relics. You can keep them all, and welcome."

Knuckles gave her a look of utter disbelief. Rouge sighed resignedly.

"Okay, fine. I'll tell you what it is."

She whispered conspiratorially into the approximate location of Knuckles' ear. His eyes widened slightly, then drifted sideways in thought. At last he nodded.

"All right," he sighed. "I'll do it."

"You WILL?! You'll really stage the robbery?!" yelped Charmy delightedly.

"I must be out of my mind," groaned Knuckles. "But yes."

"Ohmigosh! Thank you thank you thank you! I'm gonna owe you, like, a million!"

"You won't owe me anything, so long as the batgirl keeps her end of the deal," Knuckles grumbled.

"We'll vouch for it!" offered Tails. "If _anything_ happens to your Master Emerald or your echidna relics, we'll . . . " He paused to think of something. "I'll build a complete security system for Angel Island!"

"And Team Chaotix can solve all your mysteries on the house forever!" offered Charmy. "And I'll give you my birds' nest collection."

"And I'll give the ole pirate ship as insurance!" volunteered Marine. "It's yours until your relics are back safe an' sound."

"And I'll put up Oliver!"

"Oh, I wouldn't ever take Oliver," said Knuckles, waving his hands. "Not Oliver."

Oliver was the stuffed tiger Cream had gotten on her first birthday. It was one of her dearest possessions, because she had dim memories of clutching the toy while riding on her father's shoulders, or tossing it back and forth with him like a ball. That had been a long, long time ago; the tiger now sat in a place of honor on Cream's dresser.

"He's right, Cream," protested Tails. "You can't give up Oliver!"

"I don't want any of you to put up insurance," said Knuckles firmly. "I couldn't take your pirate ship or anything."

"But we want to make sure your Master Emerald stays safe," said Cream determinedly. "We have to guarantee it somehow!"

Knuckles shook his head resignedly and gave Rouge a piercing look.

"You see what these kids are doing?" he said sternly. "Putting up their dearest possessions to promise that _you_ don't try anything funny! Let me just say, you better not let down their trust, batgirl."

"Geez!" protested Rouge, putting her hands up in front of her. "I wouldn't even think about it!"

"Then it's settled?" said Tails hopefully.

"Settled," agreed Rouge. "Nobody say a word of this to anyone, now. Knuckie, I'll drop by at midnight tonight. You can stay awake to watch for me, if you like."

Winking, she spread her wings and took off.

"Thank you!" the Kid Brigade called after her. "We're gonna owe you both!"

"Oh, don't worry. The batgirl knows what she's doing. She'll benefit more than any of us," said Knuckles drily.

"And thank you sooooo much Knuckles!"

"Ah, don't mention it," said the echidna gruffly. "Go on home, now."

The Kid Brigade left Angel Island in a mood that could make a hyena look depressed. By now they felt the fate of Team Chaotix was safely assured, and they couldn't wait for tomorrow, when Knuckles would report the "robbery."

However, they still did have to wait. Therefore, they went to Sonic and Tails' house, and began to clatter around in Tails' workshop.

Soon there was an entirely new scenario: On the bridge of a great and legendary starship, many light-years away from Earth, a brave captain sat in the command chair, his face tight with anxiety.

"Lieutenant," he said grimly. "Where are they?"

"I don't know, sir!" said the young lieutenant desperately. "The enemy ships seem to have a cloaking device far superior to that of the—"

"Agh!" yelled the helmswoman. "They're firing at us!"

"From cloaked position?!" bellowed the captain in disbelief. "That's impossi—"

Suddenly the whole bridge rocked violently.

"We're hit!" wailed the lieutenant, staggering against a control panel.

"Evasive maneuvers!" howled the captain, gripping the arms of his chair. "Lieutenant! Status report!"

"Fourth rear deck reporting hull breach!" barked the lieutenant, hammering away at the control panel. "Third rear deck, concussive power failure! Engine room is losing power!"

The captain's jaw clenched in determination.

"Engineering! Come in engineering!" he roared into the communicator built into the arm of his chair. "Status report, now!"

"The third and sixth plasma drive engines are dead, sir!" hollered the chief engineer's voice. "We're trying to get them back online with the cooling system before they blow, but we've only got about twenty minutes!"

"Release the engine cores!" the captain shouted into the radio.

"But _captain!—_"

"We don't have any choice! We need the other engines full power to avoid further attacks! After you release the plasma cores, try to recalibrate the—"

The captain suddenly flopped back in his chair and clapped a hand to his forehead.

"Good grief. I can't do this anymore."

"What?! Why not?" yelped the lieutenant.

"For crying out loud," groaned Tails, chuckling. "I'm sitting here yelling at the arm of an office chair!"

The others burst out laughing.

"You can't give up now, captain!" called Cream, popping out of the closet that was "engineering."

"We're in the middle of an attack!" agreed helmswoman Marine.

"And we're hit again!" wailed Lieutenant Charmy, stumbling about to indicate that the ship was trembling. He stumbled straight into a control panel and brought the painted cardboard box down with him.

"Okay, okay, I know," giggled Tails. "But I can't do this! Every time I try to radio engineering, I want to laugh. How do they film the real movies, anyway?"

"Maybe they really do have a working radio on the chair, so it doesn't feel as silly," suggested Cream.

"Oh! Good idea!" cried Tails. "I have an old walkie-talkie set in my room—we could fasten it to the chair and use it like a real radio!"

"Chao!" squealed Cheese in approval. The four kids and one chao charged out of Tails' workshop, intending to plow upstairs.

They stopped in their tracks the minute they reached the living room. Knuckles was quietly in conversation with Sonic, and they had a pretty good idea what it was about.

"Well, thanks for telling me, Knux," Sonic was saying.

"I thought you ought to know," said Knuckles seriously. He looked up and saw the Kid Brigade standing in the doorway, with "how _could_ you?!" and general horror written all over their faces.

"Oh," said the echidna, wincing. "Hey kiddos."

"We weren't supposed to tell anyone!" said Tails desperately. Knuckles glanced at Sonic.

"Uh, I'll let you explain?"

"No problem. See you around," said Sonic evenly.

Nodding goodbye, Knuckles slipped out the door. The Kid Brigade continued to stand numbly, blinking up at Sonic and waiting for an ultimatum. They were in for it now; they were toast with strawberry jam.

Luckily, Sonic didn't look too angry.

"So, you fellas have Knuckles and Rouge tangled up in this too, huh?" he said. "Boy, you'll be lucky if this doesn't blow up in your faces. Those two don't always get along, y'know."

"We have to save Team Chaotix! We just have to!" said Tails desperately. "Knuckles promised—"

"Yeah, he said he was supposed to keep it quiet," said Sonic. "But he didn't trust Rouge that close to the Master Emerald, so he wants us all as backup in case she tries to double-cross him."

"All?" gulped Marine.

"Yeah, he's telling a couple of others too. But don't worry, I'm sure everyone will keep it a secret from Team Chaotix," assured Sonic.

The Kid Brigade stood in mute despair for a few moments.

"Did I say something?" asked Sonic.

"No, no. Nothing," said Tails despondently.

"Uh . . . so why did you all come charging in here, anyway?"

"Oh, something upstairs," said Tails. The Kid Brigade hurried quietly up to Tails' room.

"I'm doomed, mates," groaned Marine, flopping facedown onto Tails' bed. "Blaze will never trust me again!"

"Gosh, I'm sorry you guys," said Charmy. "You were doing this for me, and now you're the ones in trouble!"

"But I'm the one who came up with the idea," said Cream softly.

"It's not your fault, mate," sighed Marine. "I guess Knuckles just didn't know it would get us in trouble."

They sat in glum silence for a while. At last they hunted up Tails' old walkie-talkie set, but they no longer felt any joy at the prospect of resuming their game. Marine and Cream decided they should go home and face the music as soon as possible. Charmy also buzzed sadly back to the agency, half-afraid that Team Chaotix had somehow found out about the deception. Meanwhile Tails gulped and went downstairs, ready to receive the talking-to of his life.

Sonic didn't really seem too annoyed, though. Tails waited uneasily, wondering how long he'd have to hold his breath.

"So, I was wondering," said Sonic at last. Tails jumped, but Sonic either didn't notice or pretended not to. "Do you and the other Brigadiers want to go and watch the setup taking place tonight? Knuckles said it would be okay."

Tails blinked at his older brother blankly.

"You're . . . okay with it? You're not mad?"

"About the fake robbery?" said Sonic, half-smiling. He shook his head slowly. "Well, at first I wasn't sure what to think about it. It's risky. But you're not actually doing anything wrong, since everyone agreed to it beforehand. And you're doing it to help your friends, and even putting up insurance to guarantee it works out. You guys put a lot on the line there, just to make Charmy and the rest of his team happy. Knux was pretty impressed."

"R—really?"

"And I am too." Sonic ruffled Tails' hair-scruff. "I'm proud of you, Tails."

Tails grinned up at him in silence.

"So, you want to go see the show?" asked Sonic, chuckling.

"Yeah!"

Tails and Sonic set out at eleven-thirty. Tails was somewhat heady and hyper from being up so late. Marine was even worse off, because she still hadn't gotten over the fact that Blaze wasn't angry with her either.

"Be careful, Marine," sighed Blaze, as the little raccoon joined Sonic and Tails. "But good luck."

"Thanks, Blaze mate! I'll be fine!" whooped Marine, as Sonic took her by the hand and rocketed off in the direction of Cream's house.

Cream had fallen asleep with Cheese on her head and her head on the sofa arm. The others were going to leave her in peace, but just as Vanilla whispered goodbye and closed the door, Cream jumped up with a squeak.

"Wait, wait, I want to go too!"

Cheese was grumpy though, and had to be left behind. They went on to pick up Charmy, who clambered secretly out the window to escape notice.

"This is gonna be so awesome!" he whooped, taking to the air and loop-de-looping around Tails. "Let's hurry!"

The four kids and Sonic scurried to Angel Island, then flew, airlifted, or jumped up onto its surface. Knuckles was dozing off under the Master Emerald.

"BOO!" yelled Charmy, exploding into view. Knuckles jumped awake and nearly hit his head against the Emerald.

"That's not funny!" he growled at the giggling bee. "What are you doing here?"

"Don't you remember, Knucklehead? You said the Kid Brigade could come to watch the show!" grinned Sonic.

"Oh, all right. Go hide over there in the woods. This is supposed to be a staged robbery, not a tea party!"

"Well said, Knuckie," came a familiar voice from nearby. Rouge winked hello to Sonic and the Kid Brigade, then turned back to Knuckles. "Aren't you supposed to be asleep?"

"Not with you around, batgirl," grumbled Knuckles. "Just take the artifact and make it quick."

"At least pretend to be asleep first," said Rouge, folding her arms.

Grumbling, Knuckles flopped back next to the Master Emerald and shut his eyes.

"Hmm . . . how do I know you're really sleeping?"

Knuckles gave an exaggerated snore. From their hiding place in the woods, Charmy and Marine giggled under their breaths.

"Sleeping like a log," smiled Rouge craftily. "Now to make my move!"

She winged silently off to a nearby cave, where Knuckles kept most of the ancient Pachacamac tribe's relics and artifacts. Her white fur flashed in the moonlight, then vanished into the dark depths of the cave. She was in there for quite a while; every now and then the softest hints of scraping rock or earthenware could be heard. Knuckles, miraculously awake again, was fidgeting like a dog who'd been told to balance a bit of steak on its nose.

Eventually Rouge reappeared from inside the cave, clutching a sizeable stone tablet. She was just taking off when there was a sudden roar of machinery from above, followed by a clanging sound and a familiar maniacal cackle.

"Eggman!"

There followed the usual melee. Knuckles and Sonic tried to destroy the clamp that Eggman had placed on the Master Emerald, but he poured oil onto it so they couldn't grip. Undaunted, the two of them, plus Rouge, pushed the clamp right off the now-slippery Emerald and dove up to strike Eggman's hoverpod, knocking it far away.

The only hitch came with landing after the successful attack. Sonic and his friends were used to falling from fair heights. Their landing was controlled and nimble—or it would have been, if not for the oil. In the subsequent flurry of thuds and surprised yelps, there was a sickening sound of shattering rock.

"Oh—Sweet—Mobius—" choked Knuckles.

"Second that," gulped Rouge, spreading her hands and letting several hundred tiny shards of stone crumble to the ground.


	4. Where oh Where Could He Bee?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic and Co.!**

* * *

The next morning was one rife with misery. Marine found Blaze and nervously held out a piece of paper.

"Blaze mate, can you tell me if this is all correct? I don't know much about legal-type foofera."

Blaze read the scrawl that qualified as Marine's best handwriting.

"I, Marine the Raccoon, do transfer my homemade pirate ship to Knuckles the Echidna, as payment for a debt. He will have to carry it home himself, though, because I can't lift it. The ship will be his forever and ever, to do with as he chooses. Signatures below."

Blaze's eyes moved to Marine's carefully scrawled signature, and the space where Knuckles was to put his.

"Oh, Marine. Are you sure about this?"

"It's my bounden duty, mate," said Marine grimly. "I promised 'im he'd have that ship if 'is relic didn't get back safely. And it didn't even _leave_ safely."

"Well, it was foolish of you to make a promise that big when you knew the situation was dubious," said Blaze seriously.

"I know, Blaze. I know."

"But all the same," continued Blaze. "Now that the promise is made, it's very mature of you to keep it so faithfully. Good for you."

"R . . . really?" gulped Marine, eyes wide.

"But next time, do think a little more carefully before you promise anything," said Blaze, with the ghost of a smile.

"I will!" Marine grinned from ear to ear, looking slightly delirious with joy. "Thanks, Blaze mate."

"Think nothing of it."

Nodding goodbye, the little raccoon quickly sobered and headed resignedly off in the direction of Angel Island.

"Oh, Marine," sighed Blaze, smiling slightly again.

As she boarded Angel Island, Marine met Cream, carrying Oliver. The two of them nodded to each other seriously, then headed up the stairs to the Master Emerald.

Knuckles was in a furiously bad mood. Last night, when he saw the ancient relic smashed into a thousand-odd bits, he had just about lost it. Rouge had also been furious at the loss of the relic, so she didn't take kindly to it when Knuckles started to holler. If Sonic and the kids hadn't been there to keep them off each other, who knew what would have happened.

As it was, Knuckles was slouched under the Master Emerald with a pile of stone shards and several tubes of glue. He was muttering furiously to himself and attempting to find two pieces that actually fit together.

"Knuckles," ventured Marine timidly. "Knuckles, mate."

Knuckles looked up sharply, a growl forming in his throat. He held it down when he saw who it was though.

"We brought you our dues, mate," said Marine, handing over the contract. Knuckles read through it, then looked up to find Cream holding out Oliver.

"Look, just go, kiddos," said Knuckles wearily. "Get along now. Shoo. I don't want your stuff."

"But it's all we have to give," said Cream anxiously. "If you know something else we could do for you . . . ?"

Knuckles sighed heavily. He had a short and violent temper, but to his credit he also had a very big heart, easily mollified. One doesn't earn the title of hopelessly gullible by being a coldheart, you know.

"Look, you two, it's all right," he said more gently. "It wasn't your fault, and I said before that I didn't need insurance. Giving me your stuff won't fix this tablet, and you have more use for it than I do. It's better if you keep it."

"But—"

"Nope." Knuckles tore the contract up gravely. "Don't worry about it. Hopefully I can fix this old relic. And even if I can't, well, at least the batgirl didn't get it either. Serves her right." He smirked slightly.

"What did she want with it?" asked Cream curiously.

"Well, you remember how she said to pretend she stole it for the treasure map drawn on it? Well, there really was a treasure map drawn on it." Knuckles shook his head. "Guess nobody's going to find _that_ treasure for a while."

Suddenly Tails came zooming in.

"Before you say anything, you know, I might take you up on that security system," said Knuckles.

"Sorry, not right now!" said Tails, all out of breath. The others saw at once something wasn't right.

"What is it, Tails mate?"

"Charmy! Wasn't he with you?!"

"No, we haven't seen him since yesterday."

"He's not with Team Chaotix either! He's not anywhere anyone knows about! And they found his bird's nest collection all boxed up and addressed to Knuckles!"

"What do you think happened to him?" gasped Cream, as Knuckles got to his feet grimly.

"I have a bad feeling about this," groaned Tails. "You remember how he kept saying he'd do _anything_ to save the Chaotix agency?"

"You don't mean he's—"

"Yes! I think he's decided to make a mystery for them by running away!"

* * *

Things heated up fast after that. Sonic did a preliminary dash around the immediate area first. When he turned up nothing, everyone began to mobilize for a full-out search. Mobians split up into teams, choosing sections of the neighborhood to thoroughly comb, trying to distribute the team members to best advantage. Those who could fly scanned from the air, those with speed made sweeping searches of broad areas, those with cunning and agility searched in hidey-holes and nooks and crannies. Even Team Dark soon got dragged into the fiasco, although it was hard convincing Omega not to just flatten everything to obliterate the hiding places.

"Charmy!" hollered the Kid Brigade, searching through the fields. "Char-meeeee!"

"Look," said Tails at last. "We can't go on randomly wandering around like this. We have to think logically! If you were Charmy, and you wanted to create a mystery, where would you hide?"

"Probably in some place that was small, so it would be hard to get in and find him," suggested Cream.

"And in some place pretty far away from the agency," added Marine. "Probably where it's really rough and wild."

"Right, agreed Tails. "We'd better start searching for places like that."

It took them almost two hours. They eventually found a particularly brutal stretch of wilderness, a mixture of tall, itchy grass, grim boulders, and scratching briar bushes, dotted with the occasional wizened tree.

"Careful," warned Tails. "Watch your step. The ground here is rocky and full of big holes, and you wouldn't want to fall into one or twist an ankle."

"Do you think Charmy would really hide here?" asked Marine dubiously.

"It's full of nooks and caves, so there are a lot of hiding places," said Tails. "We should at least check."

"Chao," grumbled Cheese, tugging his bowtie away from a clinging twig.

Suddenly there came a clanging of metal from far away, followed by a muffled "Help, help!" A trio of gasps, and Tails, Marine, and Cream were hurtling towards the sound, plowing through bushes and undergrowth without a thought to the scratches they were getting.

"Charmy!" shouted Marine. "Where are ya, mate?"

"Over here! Help!"

Tails and the girls soon burst out of a final bank of bushes. They froze immediately. A huge robot, with a shape vaguely reminiscent of a bear, was leering down at Charmy. The little bee was pressed back against a rock, cringing away from the robot's sharp teeth.

"Charmy! Don't move!" hollered Tails. "Somebody go get help!"

"I'll go!" shouted Marine, taking off in the direction they'd just come from. Tails picked up a rock and hurled it at the giant metal bear.

"Hey, pick on someone your own size!"

"Leave Charmy alone!" agreed Cream, grabbing Cheese and flinging the chao at the bear's head. She and Tails soon dove at the bear themselves, and Charmy scrabbled to his feet and joined them. They knew they weren't capable of destroying the huge machine themselves, so they kept it busy and tried to inflict preliminary damage while they waited for backup.

Meanwhile, Marine stumbled into Vector and Espio.

"Hurry mates!" she gasped, struggling to catch her breath. "Charmy's in trouble!"

Back with the three kids, Tails was trying to lure the bear-bot into a huge ravine nearby. The robot stopped at the edge of the drop-off, however, snarling. Rearing back onto its hind legs, it fired beams of red light from its eyes. Tails gave a stifled yelp and dodged at the very last instant.

"Hang on, we're comin'!" hollered Vector, as he and Espio charged in. Marine was howling in their wake, fists flailing. The bear-bot did not seem overly concerned with the new competition; it merely slammed down to all fours and swiped a huge metal paw at Espio.

The subsequent fight was long and dangerous. Vector, Espio, and the Kid Brigade ripped into that robot like there was no tomorrow, but they just couldn't seem to damage it. Tails, hunting for rocks to throw, cried out in surprise as Vector suddenly breathed a jet of flame at the bear's leg.

"_How did you do that?!_"

"Vector's always been able to do that!" whooped Charmy, swooping by the bear's head and kicking at its ear. "Isn't it great?"

Snarling, the bear pawed furiously at Charmy and succeeded in hitting its own head.

"That's the way to do it!" cheered Tails.

Meanwhile, Espio was sticking the robot's side full of shurikens, the kind that exploded a few seconds after impact. Even they were doing only minimal damage, but they seemed to be making the bear plenty mad. As Cream dove to retrieve Cheese after a throw, a pair of giant metal paws slammed down on either side of her. She looked up to find the bear's metallic head leering only a few inches from her face. With a squeak of fright, she hurled Cheese at the bear's nose, but the little chao merely bounced off ineffectively. The bear opened its great metal jaws and plunged them towards the little rabbit—

"CREAM MATE!" bellowed Marine, skidding desperately in. Her right fist was raised above her shoulder, glowing with a strange blue-green light. Seconds later a pulse of water shot from Marine's hand and exploded directly between the bear's eyes.

"RARRRRRRGH!" The bear was not amused.

"Rarrrgh yourself, you rotter!" Marine screamed up furiously. She grabbed Cream by the arm. "Come on mate, he won't be dizzy forever!"

The two youngsters took off as fast as they could, but suddenly a metal paw came swiping through the air and tumbled them swiftly to the ground. Again the bear's head loomed down, this time over both of them.

"Oh no you don't!" This time Tails came whirling in. He stood defensively between the bear and the girls, brandishing a large stone. When the bear got too close, Tails smashed the rock against its nose.

"Somebody, lure it towards the ravine!" he hollered desperately, as the bear again howled in fury.

"Over here!" Charmy whizzed two inches from the bear's face. "Come on, you stupid old monster! Come on! Catch me if you can!"

The bear snarled in annoyance. Soon it began to follow Charmy, with great lumbering steps. Still whooping, Charmy led it right to the edge of the ravine. Again it stopped at the edge and began to fire lasers, snarling furiously.

"Now's our chance!" Vector suddenly threw himself at the robot with all his might. It whirled, thrown off-balance, and slipped with one paw. As it struggled to bring all four feet back onto solid ground, Vector heaved more of his weight against the beast, while Espio threw shurikens at its feet to further unbalance it. Seconds later, with a deafening screech, the robot slipped off the edge of the ravine and hurtled down. A pause, then there came a smashing of metal.

"HOORAY!" cheered the Kid Brigade, leaping into the air.

"Phew!" Vector sank to his knees and mopped his forehead. "Guess we sure showed that thing who's the—"

Suddenly the edge of the ravine crumbled, and Vector plunged down after the robot.

"Vector! No!" wailed Charmy, throwing himself down after the crocodile. Several of the kids screamed—but abruptly Charmy reappeared, wings buzzing madly, lifting a shaken-looking Vector by the shoulders.

"Good grief." Espio wiped his forehead in turn. "Are you all right?"

"Fine, fine," said Vector staunchly. "You, Charmy?"

"I'm okay." The little bee smiled shakily. "Thanks for coming to save me."

"Yeah." Vector rubbed his head wearily. "Let's go find the others and tell them you're found."

* * *

Soon all the search parties had convened around Team Chaotix and the other kids, and an exceedingly nervous Charmy was making his explanation.

"I didn't want the detective agency to fall apart," he gulped. "I really didn't. We tried so many things, and they all went wrong! I thought if I left, you guys would look for me, and—and—I don't know, I thought maybe I'd say I wouldn't come back till you guys promised not to break up the agency, but then the big robot attacked me, and—"

"Charmy," said Espio. "I know you hate the idea of the agency falling apart, but you can't force it to keep going; it just isn't going to work. Sometimes, you just have to let go and let things end. You can't keep the world from changing."

"I know, guys," said Charmy, hanging his head. "I'm really sorry I ran away."

"Well, at least you're all right, kid," sighed Vector, ruffling the little bee's antennae. "Life'll go on, you know? Even without the Chaotix Detective Agency."

"Yeah, but I'm gonna—I'm gonna miss you so much!" wailed Charmy, throwing himself at Vector despairingly.

"Take it easy!" protested Vector. "It's not like we're going far away or anything."

"You'll still be able to see us all the time," assured Espio, patting Charmy on the shoulder. "We'll still be friends. You know it won't be so bad."

"Yeah." Charmy took a huge gulp of air, visibly letting go, then looked up with a brave smile. "Yeah. We'll be fine."

"I hate to break this up," said Sonic awkwardly, "but what about that robot? Where did it come from? Is there a new threat out there?"

"No," cut in Rouge. "That's one of Dr. Eggman's old robots. I saw it once a long time ago, when I was in his base. The robot went rogue, and Eggman abandoned it. We all thought it had rusted away somewhere long ago! But I guess not."

"Well, it's gone now!" said Charmy proudly. "Mean old robot."

"Another thing puzzles me," said Shadow grimly. "Where did Charmy hide?"

"In a cave, near where the robot found me," said Charmy. "I was going out to look for something to eat when it caught me."

"In the wild area with the ravine?" Shadow shook his head. "We searched that area." He gave Amy a stern look. "Actually, as I recall it was your job to search the small hiding places. Did you skip the cave?"

"Well . . . well, yes, I did!" said Amy, blinking in surprise. "But that's because you said _you_ had searched it!"

"I said nothing of the kind."

"Oh yes you did! I was just walking up to the cave, and suddenly I heard you calling, 'I've already looked, he's not in there.' So I went on to the next place!"

"I never said that."

"You did! I heard you!" Amy stamped her foot. Shadow held up a hand silently for a halt, then turned to Charmy.

"I don't suppose you'd know anything about that?"

Charmy gulped, clearly nervous.

"I'm, uh . . . really good with impressions?"

Shadow raised an eyebrow.

"Impressions!" Charmy rattled on. "I, uh, made my voice sound like yours and yelled so Amy wouldn't find me in the cave."

"He is really good," volunteered Tails.

"Oh?" Shadow now raised both his eyebrows at Charmy. "Let's hear you."

"Uh . . . "

"Come on, show us."

"Uh, you promise you won't get mad?" gulped Charmy.

"Whatever, sure. Let's say I won't."

"So, what do you want me to say?"

"I don't know. Anything. Whatever you please."

Gulping, Charmy cleared his throat, put two fingers under his chin, and rasped, "I don't know, anything. Whatever you please'," in a near syllable-for-syllable match. Everyone else burst out laughing. Charmy hastily dove behind Vector for protection, but Shadow only rolled his eyes.

"Close, but I don't really sound like that."

"Are you kidding? Search the kid for a tape recorder!" said Rouge.

"Ahh, whatever." Shadow nodded tersely to Charmy, who was peeking out from behind Vector. "I'll grant you're not that bad. But don't make it a habit."

"I won't," promised Charmy, venturing a smile.

* * *

**A/N: Yes, Vector can breathe fire. It's shown in one of the last episodes of Season 3 of Sonic X, at least in the Japanese version. Forget double-take, when I first saw that I registered at _least_ a triple take! And Espio's exploding shurikens are also from Sonic X.**

**As to Marine, I read on the Sonic Wikia that she is shown to have some mysterious power during the boss battle of _Sonic Rush Adventure_. Nobody knows if it's psychokinesis, photokinesis, or hydrokinesis, but I go for the last one. She's a seafarin' raccoon, after all!**


	5. Goodbye, Team Chaotix

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic and Co., and certainly not _Jurassic Park!_ Heck, I don't even like it that much . . . it was my first scary-type movie, and I was grossly underaged to be watching it. Especially alone. So I haven't been able to shake the grudge with it yet. :P**

* * *

Things quickly wound down after that. The next afternoon, Sonic went out looking for Team Chaotix. He dashed into them eventually and skidded to a halt.

"Hey guys! There you are!" He broke off and eyed the huge paper bags that the Chaotix members were carrying. "Wow, what is that?"

"Guess you could call it our last mission," grinned Vector sadly. "We were collecting all the posters that we put up to advertise our agency." He waved one of the blue-and-yellow flyers at Sonic, who took it and read it over.

"Wow, these are pretty cool."

"A lot of good they did us," said Espio ruefully.

"I just can't believe you guys didn't get a single case," sighed Sonic, handing the poster back. "That's too weird."

"Yeah."

"Well, uh . . . " Sonic scratched behind one ear. "Say, you guys are due over at my place!"

"Uh, what?"

"Come on, you'll be late!" called Sonic, already taking off. Exchanging puzzled glances, the Chaotix followed him.

It soon turned out that all of Team Chaotix's friends had decided to set up a little get-together, a sort of goodbye party. Cream and Vanilla had brought cookies, Tails had blown up balloons, and everyone had decorated Sonic's house and put up a banner saying "Goodbye Team Chaotix!" The Chaotix were certainly touched, and most of the afternoon passed in munching cookies and reminiscing about the team's past adventures. Omega wanted to fight them again to see if they'd gotten any better since _Sonic Heroes_ (and it can't be said that Shadow and Rouge were too discouraging on that count!), but everyone else managed to keep the two teams tactfully separated for the duration of the afternoon.

As it grew dark, Sonic suggested a movie. Knuckles advised _Jurassic Park_.

"That's the only scary movie that isn't irritating," he explained.

"Irritating?" Sonic grinned skeptically.

"Well, yeah. In all the other scary movies, you keep yelling 'Don't open that door! Don't touch that thing! Don't go near that stupid not-really-dead monster!', and they do it anyway. But in _Jurassic Park_, you yell 'Run from the dinosaurs! Run!' and they _do._"

"Okay, _Jurassic Park_ it is," chuckled Sonic.

"But that's PG-13," put in Blaze. "The children will have to stay elsewhere."

"That's okay," piped Tails. "I can play a different movie for us on the computer in my workshop."

"Okay then. See you 'round!" called Sonic, rummaging among the DVD's.

The Kid Brigade went to Tails' workshop and began taking down their starship setup from the other day.

"Just one thing, Marine," said Tails quietly. "I kept forgetting to ask you, and I guess Vector and Espio either didn't notice or forgot about it. But back when we were fighting that bear, you shot _water_ at it! Out of nowhere."

"Nah, you must have imagined it, mate."

Tails gave her a disbelieving glance.

"We saw you!" Cream backed him up.

"You just threw a huge ball of water at it like it was nothing! Like Blaze throws her fire, or Silver—"

"All right, all right!" Marine broke in hastily, glancing at the door. "Not so loud, mates!"

"So you really are a hydrokinetic?" whispered Tails excitedly.

"Yeah, yeah, I guess so. It wasn't any choice of mine!"

"That's so cool!" Charmy stifled a yelp of delight. "Show us Marine, show us!"

"No!" Marine waved her hands furiously for quiet. "Please mates, stop! Shhh!"

"What's wrong?" asked Cream worriedly.

"Please mates," whispered Marine, waving for them to draw closer and lowering her voice. "Don't ever tell anyone, _anyone_, please! I can't let anyone know! Especially not Blaze!"

"What do you mean?" asked Tails, bewildered. "It's not like you're going to get bullied for it. Everybody around here respects kinetics! You've seen Silver and Blaze, nobody gives them any trouble about their powers."

"It's not that," said Marine desperately. "I just don't want people to know! If Silver an' Blaze find out I have powers too, they're gonna want me to start training! I don't want to be stuck doing any dumb old training routines every day!"

Tails looked at her in disbelief again.

"You're kidding, right? You have the opportunity to develop your powers, become an awesome fighter, gain all kinds of amazing abilities, and you throw all that away because you don't want to do extra training?!"

"That and other things, mates," groaned Marine. "Look, I'll—I'll tell Blaze and Silver someday. When I'm ready. But you have to promise me you won't tell anyone until then! Please?"

The others looked at her for a moment. Her expression was pleading and serious—and when Marine was serious, _big_ things were afoot. Tails, Cream, and Charmy glanced at each other, then sighed.

"All right. We promise," said Cream.

Marine visibly relaxed.

"Thanks, mates. Thanks."

They all relaxed slightly and smiled. A chorus of screams—mostly but not all from the TV—came from the living room.

"Sounds scary," remarked Marine.

"You know, I've always kinda wanted to see that movie," said Tails ruefully. "Sonic never lets me watch it."

"Do you think we could sneak in?" grinned Charmy.

"We can try!" said Cream. The others turned to her in amazement.

"You _want_ to try sneaking in there?"

"I want to see _Jurassic Park_ too," shrugged Cream. "Come on! Shhhh!"

Silently they cracked open the door leading to the living room and peeked out. The older Mobians were all piled up on the sofa and the floor, except Rouge, who was perched on Omega's head. Judging from the way Knuckles' nose was tilted towards the ceiling, the echidna was asleep.

Silently, stealthily, waiting for dialog to mask their footsteps, the kids snuck into the living room. Carefully they positioned themselves behind the sofa and peeked over the back, silently gazing at the movie. Cheese, mercifully quiet, nestled on top of Cream's head.

It was an exciting movie. The kids could barely contain their fidgeting, but they firmly kept themselves under wraps. If they were found, back to the workshop they went! They lasted all right through a few scenes, until the part with the spitting dinosaur. Then they dove behind the sofa and screamed like their lives depended on it.

Ironically, the unexpected screams scared the older Mobians more than the entire movie had. There were several yelps and near heart attacks, Knuckles leaped awake like he'd been doused with ice water, and Sonic spilled the bowl of popcorn he'd been commandeering. Shadow, the only one who didn't even jump, twisted around to kneel on the sofa. He peered down over the back at the trembling kids and laid his chin on his hands.

"Okay, exactly how much emotional damage have you four sustained by now?"

"We're fine," grinned Charmy shakily. "Just a little—uh—startled there."

Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you say."

The others, meanwhile, had recovered from their startlement and were laughing sheepishly.

"No more of that," sighed Blaze, getting up to turn off the TV. "We can't have you young ones watching this kind of material."

"Oh, come on," protested Tails. "Cream and Charmy and I have run around in outer space getting fired at by aliens with ship-destroying lasers. And Marine's been captured by pirates and who knows what else! A little movie can't scare us."

"No more," said Blaze firmly.

"Awwwwwww!"

"Come on, we've been sitting around long enough anyway," interjected Sonic. "How about we order pizza?"

"Yeah! Let's!"

"Hmm, we're gonna have to get a good few," murmured Sonic, counting Mobians and calculating in his head. A few of the others offered to chip in to help pay for dinner, and Sonic went to find a pizza place in the phone book.

"So how did the movie end?" asked Charmy hopefully.

"They all got eaten," remarked Shadow.

"No they didn't!" chorused Knuckles and Silver.

"So what happened?" asked Marine eagerly.

"Well, I'll tell you the best part," grinned Silver. "You know those two kids? Well, they were left in this big dining-hall place in one of the buildings, while the grownups tried to fix the security system. The kids found this big table full of really yummy food, and they started to eat it. Then suddenly, the girl looks across at the boy. And behind him, on the wall, there's a creeping shadow . . . "

"Shadow was creeping on the wall?!" interrupted Charmy in disbelief. "He's in the movie too?"

"When I got through with them, they were yelling to bring back the dinosaurs," smirked Shadow.

"No, no, no," said Silver, unamused. He raised his hands over his head like claws. "It was a Velociraptor's shadow!"

"Oooooh," chorused the kids.

"And the Velociraptors started to chase them! So they quickly dive into the kitchen, and close the door, and hide behind the counter. But it's no use! Because suddenly, slowly, the knob turns, and the door opens . . . and a little raptor head pops in!"

"Like this!" added Knuckles, jumping from behind the couch. The kids squealed and pressed together, giggling.

"Stop scaring them, you two," scolded Blaze.

"No, no, tell us more!" begged Marine.

"Okay, so the raptors came in, real slow. And the kids were hiding, and running, and dodging, and trying to stay out of sight, and those raptors were just walking right after them, all around, searching, searching . . . " Silver began to stalk menacingly towards the youngsters, brandishing his "claws."

"Ahhhhh!" squealed the Kid Brigade, taking off. Laughing, Silver chased them in circles around the sofa.

"Oh Silver, you can be such a kid sometimes," sighed Blaze.

"Run mates, run!" whooped Marine. In the ensuing chaos, she plowed straight into the pile of poster-filled bags in the corner. A burst of papers flew up into the air.

"Whoops," said Marine, surfacing from a tangle of paper bags. "Uh . . . sorry about that."

"Sounds like you guys are having fun," laughed Sonic, coming in from the kitchen. "The pizza should be here in about twenty—" He broke off as a fluttering poster landed on top of his head, covering his eyes. Chuckling, he pulled it off and glanced at it off-handedly. Suddenly he stiffened, his widening eyes fixed on the poster. Then he abruptly dashed back to the kitchen. His friends exchanged puzzled glances.

At last Sonic came back.

"Uh, guys?" he said, looking to Team Chaotix. "This contact number you put on all your posters? The one people were supposed to call if they had a mystery for you?"

"What about it?"

"It's the number of the pizza place I just phoned."

There was a moment of stunned silence. Sonic shrugged.

"Uh . . . can I get a trombone sound effect over here?"

"Wah-wah-wah-wah-wahhhhh!" Charmy obliged.


	6. Loose Ends

**A/N: Well, it's the end! In more ways than one. Following this, I have a date with the Time Eater, AKA schoolwork. It'll be a date to die for, to quote a phrase. XD Anyway, I had a bit of a summer fling and posted a boatload of fics, but now during the school year I don't plan to write anything. I probably won't be able to resist plunking away at the keyboard now and then, but the default writing mode will be zero. I don't want to set people's hopes high and then disappoint them.**

**So, it's been a really fun summer! I'm going to miss writing this crazy stuff. But I'm still probably going to be reading, reviewing, PMing, and generally darkening FanFiction's door, so don't breath a sigh of relief just yet. :P **

**And on a happier note, since people seem to like the Kid Brigade stories, I'm planning two more, for Marine and Tails! Maybe you can guess the general topic of Marine's story? And I have a few holiday specials in mind too, plus a whole list of other ideas I hope to get to sometime.**

**So, I think that's it. P****eace out y'all, and hope you have a great school year!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic and Co.**

**And a little Knuxouge thrown in, for a special friend of mine! You know who you are. ;)**

* * *

A week later, Sonic went out for his usual morning dash. Tails went with him, since he was going to make a few stops along the way. First they winged their way over to Angel Island.

"Hey Knucklehead, how's the gluin' doin'?" called Sonic, sliding to a halt in front of the Master Emerald.

"Slowly," grumbled Knuckles, attempting to detach himself from the glue tube. "But surely. I think I'm about half-done, and it can only get easier from here. As long as none of the earlier pieces were wrong."

"I can come over and help sometime if you want," offered Tails, crouching down to sift through the little pieces of stone. "I'm good at puzzles. Wouldn't this piece fit in over here?"

"You're right!" Knuckles finally pulled the glue tube off his hand and grabbed the stone shard, only to find that he was now stuck to that.

"Argh! Get _off!_" Losing patience, he waved his hand furiously. "This is gonna kill me!"

"Too bad it's not like the Master Emerald," remarked Tails. "You could just throw the pieces in the air and holler 'Pachacamac tablet, unite!' and it'd just—"

He broke off as the shards of stone suddenly began to glow. Leaping into the air, they neatly assembled themselves back into the tablet, and the cracks between them fused into nothing. The relic was now intact, except for Knuckles' hand still stuck to the top of it.

"You echidnas had some wild relics," said Sonic, blinking. "Do all of them do that?"

"I dunno. Wish you'd come and said that line sooner," grumbled Knuckles, finally tugging his hand loose, then extending it to Tails. "But thanks anyway."

"Uhh, maybe we shouldn't shake hands," ventured Tails awkwardly. He didn't relish the thought of spending the day stuck to Knuckles.

"Come on, Tails, we've gotta make the rounds before it's afternoon!" said Sonic, already turning to dash off.

"I'll come talk to you about the security system after lunch!" Tails called to Knuckles. Whirring his tails, he took off after Sonic. A few more minutes of dashing, and they would be at their next stop.

Just as soon as Sonic and Tails had left, Rouge dropped lightly from atop the Master Emerald.

"Morning Knuckie!"

Knuckles jumped.

"Where did you come from?!"

"Originally, you mean?"

"Don't make jokes," grumbled Knuckles. "What do you want?"

"I just noticed that your tablet was fixed," smiled Rouge. "Mind if I have a look at it?"

"No way. The deal's off, Rouge. You're not getting hold of this tablet again!"

"Oh come on, don't be stingy."

"I said, _no_."

"Hmph!" Rouge folded her arms and looked away, offended. Knuckles sighed.

"Here, you can have this."

Rouge glanced over with one eye and saw that Knuckles was holding out a piece of paper.

"It's blank," she said, unamused.

"For now," sighed Knuckles. He pushed the stone tablet closer to her. "Trace it. Then g'wan out of here and don't breathe a word of this to anyone."

"Awww," Rouge smiled. "Thanks, Knuckles."

"Sure, sure. Don't suppose you'd cut me into that treasure a bit? I could have just gone to find it myself, you know."

"I'll think about it," grinned Rouge, beginning to copy the map from the tablet to the paper.

"Think about it," grunted Knuckles. "If you do more than think about it, I'll be impressed."

He shook his head as the paper tore between the pencil and the tablet's uneven surface.

"No, do it this way."

He laid his hand on top of Rouge's, showing her how to angle the pencil and follow the lines. It wasn't until a few minutes later that they both realized what they were doing and pulled their hands apart hastily, reddening and avoiding each other's eyes.

Meanwhile at the Chaotix Detective Agency, a medium level of chaos was being sustained at all times. The phone rang as if its ringer had gotten stuck, faxes kept spewing out of the fax machine, and Espio was trying to figure out how to set up an email system on the Chaotix's primitive computer. Charmy was whizzing back and forth with armloads of paper to feed the fax machine, trying not to run over Vector.

"Yo, Chaotix Pizza Agency!" called Sonic, swinging in through the door.

"Aww, give us a break, Sonic," said Vector, looking up with a rueful grin. "Can we help it if Charmy put the wrong number on the poster design?"

"Hey!" squealed Charmy. "I just copied the number Espio gave me on a piece of paper!"

"And I copied down the _right_ number," said Espio firmly. "It's not my fault that Vector's desk is such a mess that I wound up grabbing the wrong piece of paper to give to Charmy. They looked identical!"

"Whose desk are you calling messy?!"

"I don't know, maybe the desk of the one who _should_ have noticed that the wrong number was on the posters?"

"Hey, why should I know our number? We don't phone _ourselves,_ you know!"

"Woah, woah guys!" laughed Sonic, holding up his hands. "Take it easy! You're gonna have to give up arguing like this if you want to take care of all these mysteries."

"Who's arguing? I'm just saying, we're lucky that pizza place didn't charge us for all the phone calls they got—"

"Are you kidding? They should be paying _us_ for the free advertising!"

"I don't think anyone calling for a detective is going to be interested in pizza!"

"Guys!" Charmy added to the din. "The fax machine's gotten jammed up again!"

CRASH!

"Uh, well, it's not jammed anymore!"

"CHAR-MY!"

Exchanging glances, Sonic and Tails carefully tiptoed out the door.

"Yeah," sighed Sonic, gingerly rubbing his ears. "I think Team Chaotix is officially back in business."


End file.
